The Horizon and You
by osmalic
Summary: Point out the beginning, but the future is limitless. Waya x Ochi, from the 1sentence challenge.


**Title:** The Horizon and You  
**Fandom:** Hikaru no Go  
**Pairing:** Waya Yoshitaka/Ochi Kosuke  
**Challenge:** 1sentence in lj  
**Set:** Gamma  
**Rating:** g, probably gen

**The Horizon and You**

33. World  
Waya and Ochi may be galaxies from each other, but when they play _go_ it feels like they are both in their own parallel dimensions where they will never meet even though they are in similar worlds.

09. Red  
"Ochi-san," Isumi says coaxingly, "please yell at Waya now before your face turns any redder."

46. Gravity  
When Ochi wins another match, Waya snaps at him, "You know that whatever goes up has to come down sometime, right?", but Ochi merely shrugs and replies, "What about those things that never leave the ground, huh, Waya?"

34. Formal  
"Please," they say politely before a game, but their eyes shoot daggers across the _go_ board.

02. Hero  
"Geez, Waya, why are you so obsessed with 'sai', anyway?!" Ochi cries out.

11. Midnight  
"Don't go yet, you freak, it's only midnight," Waya whines, "and I'll win this time, you'll see!"

03. Memory  
The first day Waya was declared an _insei,_ he stuck out his hand at Ochi and said, "I'm Waya, nice to meet you," and Ochi stared down at his outstretched hand, looked up, and announced back, "I'm Ochi, and I'll crush you."

36. Laugh  
Ochi doesn't laugh at any of Morishita-sensei's joke, as per the requirement of the study group rivalry, but Waya notices he smiles when he thinks everyone has turned away.

20. Talent  
Ochi knows what he has is _skill,_ not _talent,_ but it is all he has and can ever hope to have, so he will hang on to it no matter what that stupid Waya says.

26. Ice  
Ochi overhears Waya complain, "He has _more ice_ than he has _tea_ in his cup, Shindou, don't you think that's _weird?"_ and bites his lip to keep from retorting loudly, "No."

19. Candle  
At the festival, Waya lights a candle, "To the God of _Go, _for luck," he says; but Ochi only sniffs, saying, "I don't believe in gods and luck, I only believe in me."

29. Dance  
Waya glances away from the game he and Ochi are replaying, to the TV showing Shindou and Touya's match, sighing as if envious, "It's like a dance, their game—is that the result of rivalry?"

07. Wings  
Ochi, not even looking up from the board he is studying, replies steadily, "I suppose rivalry lifts you to different levels you'd never get to, otherwise," and his voice is just as wistful.

24. Strength  
_"Do you want to be my rival?"_ is what Waya wants to ask, knowing it is silly to invite because people don't _do_ things like that, _especially_ to someone as obnoxious and loudmouth as Ochi—so maybe, _maybe_ he is lucky when what he blurts out is, "I want to become stronger!"

41. Wait  
At the outburst, Ochi stops playing, pushes his glasses up his nose, and haughtily replies, "Well, you're lucky you became a pro—just give it a few more years and maybe you'll catch up to me by then."

21. Silence  
When it is announced that Shindou has been promoted to third _dan_ in just a few months, their eyes meet and hold, asking the same questions without actually forming words.

45. Eclipse  
Ochi knows just how strong Touya and Shindou can be, and he has seen the _kifus_ of online games by this 'sai', but it doesn't mean that Waya—and everyone!—should keep looking at only at them like they are gods of _go_ shining the path, while others like Ochi are delegated to obscurity.

06. Hurricane  
"It's not _my_ fault you're stuck with me in this godforsaken room with no lights and no communication and _don't think I'll let you win just to stop you from tapping on the board!"_

30. Body  
"You'll grow fatter if all you eat is sushi," Ochi warns; "Says the shorty," Waya retorts.

42. Talk  
"You're all talk," Waya snaps, slamming a stone on the wooden board with a sharp _pa-chi,_ "just _play!" _

14. Music  
Waya rolls his eyes when he hears the tap-tap-tapping in one of the cubicles, but he is careful to keep the faucet turned down so the sound would be a mere sigh blending with the noise of fingernails against tiles.

48. Unknown  
"What a jerk, who the hell is he?" an _insei_ complains loudly when a boisterous Waya passes by, but Ochi surprises himself by seriously replying, "If you're good enough, you'll meet him across the board someday," before following up with a quick, "But really, he's no one!"

10. Drink  
"I am _not_ too young to drink beer," Ochi tells him icily, grabbing the bottle Waya offers with a grin and ignoring Shindou and Isumi's frantic waving.

35. Fever  
"I don't feel so good," Ochi mumbles, and Waya emits a yell when his opponent slumps face-first into the _go_ board.

12. Temptation  
Ochi wakes up and gives a blood-curdling shriek when the first thing he sees is the face of a determined Waya holding a permanent marker over his face.

01. Ring  
"Your ring tone is _boring,"_ Waya complains, snatching Ochi's phone and cancelling the call; he changes it quickly before the shorter boy has the chance to protest.

31. Sacred  
Sitting before the board in the Room of Profound Darkness, they both close their eyes and draw their breaths, exhaling slowly in an almost reverent prayer, slowly ending the ritual when a voice cuts through their thoughts, "You may now begin."

23. Fire  
"If we're talking about Ochi as your opponent, remember that passion for the game is half the achievement," Yashiro tells Waya; and Shindou butts in, "Yeah, the other half is burning all chances he has in winning right from the beginning."

49. Lock  
"Hey, Ochi, Shindou's locked me out of our hotel room; I know you have a single, and since it's your fault we took so long finishing the last game, I'm crashing there for tonight—be there in five minutes."

37. Lies  
"Waya said to tell you that he can't make it today since he has to...um...do laundry," Shindou finishes weakly; Ochi says flatly, "He should have told Nase-san, she lies more convincingly than you do, Shindou."

08. Cold  
"You're such a cold bastard," Waya shouts as Ochi stalks off, "and _that's_ why you don't have any friends!"

25. Mask  
"I don't need you or anyone else," Ochi tells him angrily, but Waya suddenly sees how the other boy hunches himself to look smaller, tinier...and he gets it.

39. Overwhelmed  
"Look, you just have to bring some chips because Shindou'll bring anything that'll make us drunk, Isumi's the one bringing the meds to cure hangover and headache and everything, Touya-the-brat'll be bringing the _go_ board—because it's the only thing he's willing to bring—and all my friends are invited so of _course_ you should come too...hey, Ochi...hello, are you still there?"

43. Search  
Sometimes, Waya wonders if someone as arrogant and stuck-up as Ochi has some deeper reason for playing and striving to be the best in _go,_ or if he's still searching for a reason like Waya is.

38. Forever  
"I'm going to beat Ochi today," Waya announces; Shindou smirks, "Yeah, you always say that."

05. Run  
Panting, Waya manages to snap, "It's Shindou's fault we're late so don't think I was trying to make you win through forfeit but I'm here now so let's play!"

13. Cover  
"That huge guy was blocking my view from the board," Ochi complains, and Waya yells, "But you didn't have to kick him, idiot!"

40. Whisper  
"It's all your fault if we get kicked out before the end of the game," Waya hisses as he plays another hand; Ochi rolls his eyes, ignoring the glares of the other players in the salon: "You were shouting too."

28. Forgotten  
"It was our _first game,_ moron!" Waya shouts angrily; Ochi just shrugs but he studies the board with renewed interest.

15. Silk  
Ochi doesn't mind the Heian era clothes he has to wear to Shindou's stupid party—it's soft and silky, folding nicely over his arms and legs—until Waya tells him, "I...don't think your glasses and your haircut go with the costume, Ochi."

27. Fall  
"Don't worry," Waya assures Yashiro as they stare at the retreating figure of the short boy, "Ochi always locks himself in the bathroom after he loses a match."

50. Breathe  
"What do you do when you lose?" Ochi asks later; Waya only smiles: "I remember to keep breathing."

47. Highway  
Isumi glances at the rearview mirror to see Waya and Ochi going to _yose_ on Ochi's magnetic _go_ board game, catches sight of the heavy traffic ahead of them, and clutches the steering wheel with a sigh.

32. Farewells  
"They'll be back from China soon," Shindou assures Ochi; the younger boy sniffs, turning away as he mutters, "It's not like I'm going to miss him."

17. Promise  
"Yes, my phone can receive picture emails, what does it matter?" Ochi demands, and Waya's voice cheerfully replies, "I promised you a _kifu_ of my first game here, remember?"

04. Box  
"It's almost romantic," Isumi told Shindou and Touya with amusement, "when Waya bought a box of dolls, saying they're so creepy, they reminded him of Ochi's haircut."

13. View  
Ochi doesn't know when he has started to think of Waya as a friend rather than some other insignificant person to crush through _go._

44. Hope  
Suddenly, Waya stops before the entrance of the Go Institute and asks, "Hey, we have a long way to go before we get to the top, right?"

22. Journey  
A long time ago—a few months ago—Ochi would have retorted, _I'm almost there and **you're** not,_ but now he merely pushes his glasses up his nose, stares up at the institute, and agrees, "We've barely just begun."

**.end**


End file.
